No plans to move production offshore: CSL

Pharmaceutical company CSL says it has no plans to move any of its existing Australian manufacturing offshore and instead intends to increase production at its Broadmeadows facility.

CSL is constructing a new plant at Broadmeadows which will increase production for export and has also added a biotech facility, which it will use to produce trial products for bleeding disorders.

“The biotech plant is being validated and next year we will use the plant to manufacture products to be used in the trials.

“If the trials work, we will then consider the manufacture of the product, at which point we will consider all locations including Australia,” a CSL spokesperson said.

CSL said it would review suitable manufacturing locations in parallel with the trials.

"We will find the most effective location and consider all factors such as labour and business conditions and this will not happen for at least three to five years,” a CSL spokesperson said.

The Community and Public Sector Union said it was important CSL kept the manufacturing of new products in Australia if the trials were successful.

“CSL is a really important company to Australians. The community is anxious to see CSL build on its research and development with manufacturing in Australia,” CPSU assistant national secretary Louise Persse said.

CSL said on Thursday it was fastracking its research and development by increasing R&D expenditure by 15 per cent to more than $400 million. The largest investment was in its recombinant portfolio which treats haemophilia and other coagulation disorders, it said.

Shares for the pharmaceutical company closed today $1.32 higher at $54.77.